Worth Work Podcast

This episode of the Worth Work podcast Desmond and Jesse investigate the importance of inner work for creating racial justice in ourselves and our school communities. Desmond shares the background about where the name of this podcast; Worth Work- came from. To summarize briefly- the process of liberating ourselves from ubiquitousness of shame begins by claiming our inherent worth that comes from simply being alive. Dominant systems at play want us to continue operating as though our worth comes from what we produce. Let's do the inner work my friends- the work to create our purpose outside the status quo. A purpose that liberates and creates a more humane and just world for us and our grandkids grandkids. This isn't quick fix gratification. This is the inner work. The worth work.

We encourage you to tune in at the 35:19 mark of the episode where Desmond and Jesse explore a simple practice to track you're experience of a class period. A 2 BARS guided mediation is at the 12:29 mark. And of course we end every episode with a summarizing freestyle rap- 50:45 ENJOY!

01:36- Desmond- The question we were asking our interviewees: 'What social and emotional barriers exist to keep us from doing equity work?'

02:32- Jesse- "The way I think about inner work is developing practices and ideally developing a way of being, a way of developing your character, where you build this well within. So when the inevitable chaos of life comes, or the unexpected thing happens in the classroom. That you can draw upon this well that you've built up through whatever practices work for you to develop love, live from your genius and respond to truth, to direct your energy in a way that doesn't harm and brings a sense of creativity."

03:20- Desmond- "When I think of inner work, its the work that done within yourself and I think of practices you use to cultivate your inner being. For me I've been a big reflection person. Writing, journaling, all those things to capture a little bit of whats going on in my experience- in my head- and to look at it and determine- okay, thats helpful, thats not helpful as it relates to connections in the class room."

06:30- Desmond- "How do we create the space for teachers to be able to do the inner work that is necessary for them to maintain themselves in the job? During the job hours.."

08:33- Desmond- "In the Zeitgeist of this time, there is these words; mental health, self care... and I don't know if people connect that this inner work is also needed for racial equity..."

08:48- colleague clip- Lambert- "My expectation is that people would turn internally, its easier to blame someone or get intellectual or say the framework isn't right, instead of turning inside and saying I got to own some of this stuff. For example..." (shares a story)

09:39- Jesse- "The connection for me going from the fu fu feel good to the real heart of it is getting into the shadow work of it. Specially taking ownership of being a white man in this country and this context, is being a part of a demographic that has caused an immense amount of harm.... to take real ownership brought me into the heart of the work, because of the potential for shame, the potential to be the bad guy, the potential to be misunderstood and wanting to belong and do the right thing."

10:32- Jesse- "If we want to go there we have to do the shadow work. We can't bypass it. I think by passing is another product of white culture, like 'I just want to get to where we're all equal.'... yes lets get to where it's equal, but we have to heal this wound first. And that racial wound is deep. As a white man I have my work to do to heal that. It's a process."

11:00 Desmond- "Why would anyone want to do this work?" I understand why i do it and want to do it. Part of what this podcast is about is providing an actual lived experience of why we do this work.... It's a dynamic experience... this culture wants us to get to the promise land of everything being 'good'.

12:29 Two B.A.R.S. guided meditation to breathe, align, relax and shine.

14:33- Colleague clip-Mercedes- "Equity work is a necessity for my survival right. And in an institution that was not only harmful to me, but was harmful to my own children. And I'm that person to wiggle the mouth of the machine to do something. Thats actually counter of what it's supposed to do. Its designed to create the status quo..."

15:21 Jesse - "Living in a more liberal city thats white, has those challenges like- I've read the latest book, I've listened to the latest podcasts (which is this one), I know the latest terms- so I'm perceived as the woke white person or whatever. But the heart of this, and this is coming at it from an artists perspective, is I want to get in touch with the depths of my pain, because thats where the depth of life is. I want to get in touch with the depths of my wound cause thats where my greatest healing is. I want to create from the depths of the human experience - I want to educate from there.... at least the highest part of me does, often I forget that."

16:22- Jesse asking Desmond- "You birthed the idea of worth work, How do you see inner work and worth work connected? Are they the same thing? Is inner work a part of worth work?

16:28- Desmond- "I was looking up other words that were synonyms of equity and I saw the word worth... and from living in the system and going to PDs you could just hear, shame, shame, shame... everybody operating from some degree of protecting themselves from shame. And shame has you feeling like you are not worthy. When I think of worth work, I think of a work that reclaims self worth. That self worth is inherent in every human being, cause you're alive and you're here."

17:24- Desmond- "There is a vested interest in the zeitgeist of our culture for the last 400 or so years to convince you that your worth is outside of yourself. From the root of colonialism you can get free labor, you can own land-ownership, and you can also classify things. If people are convinced that their only worth comes from what they can contribute to a society through the means of labor, then those in positions of power are being served by that."

18:53 Desmond- "If we can reclaim our worth, rediscover our inherent worth, then it becomes easier to connect with another human being, outside of the ways we identify, which have embedded moralistic hierarchies. Said another way white at the top and Black on the bottom. and various shades in between. Thats the racial identity piece and you can add class and wealth and gender and sexuality and all these things that our system has created hierarchies for."

19:44- Desmond- "I can stop chasing that ideal (of what the system says I should be based on the hierarchies) and start doing the inner work to discover- 'What is my ideal?'... I get to identify it for myself and not have the society do it for me.

20:01- Jesse - How do we reclaim our worth? What are those practices?

20:09- Desmond- A lot of it for me is the capturing of what is going on inside my mind and body, through writing, journaling, artistic practices, creativity, conversation, processing, therapy. To pause a bit of the dynamic that is my internal lived experience, the constant flow of thoughts, ideas, sensations, all that. Pause it, take a little sample of it and then ask myself essentially 'Is this effective for where I want to go. For the purpose that I've created for myself.' And part of the inner work is creating that purpose for yourself."

20:50 Desmond explores how society gives us a certain purpose- be productive, be skinny, earn this much $, act like this, be a consumer of goods and ideas, for the promise of happiness based on events. The inner work is cultivating joy... from a standpoint of serving others for the enjoyment not because there is an obligation.

21:55- Colleague clip- Mercedes- "People who don't know me usually only the serious side, its weird but to appreciate humor and be able to bust out a laugh I gotta trust you and know you...With my friends and close colleagues we're popping and we'll crack up. It just fills my heart up. And I see that joy as a part of the resistance. I see that joy as a connection to my ancestors. Cause how else did they survive the things that they did. And now I feel like my opportunity is not just to survive but to thrive."

23:28 Jesse- "Doing that inner work illuminates the steps of the outer work- the path."

23:45 Desmond- Tuning fork metaphor. "One prong is within you and the other one prong is outside you. So if you find something in tune you resonating on the same frequencies.

23:58 Desmond- said in another practical way its the being able to notice within yourself when something resonates outside of yourself... If there was a standard for inner work- that would be it. Its not necessarily a comfortable feeling, there could be something resonating in you that is more along the lines of anger, sadness, envy....whatever the emotional experience is, that you catch yourself in...."

25:40 Jesse "The things that piss us off the most could be our biggest opportunities to grow."

26:15- Colleague clip, Mercedes- "The kind of check you have to have on your mind and spirit to be aware and ever seeking. Like the situation about the young man I brought up comes up. You got to be able to listen to that and lean into that."

26:30 Desmond refers to non-violent communication as a part of his inner work process.

26:55- Desmond- "The learning is how do you maintain the ability to observe what it is you feel without judgement. And Again- moralistic judgement- this is a bad feeling, this is a good feeling.... It could be oh this feeling here usually indicates I'm not align with my values or this feeling indicates I'm aligned with whats important to me... You have to know and discover what those things are and how you know and discover what those things are is you learn how to feel. Feelings give you that information..."

28:08 Desmond- "The body is in the flow of the continuously lived experience. And there is wisdom.....information. There is a lot of information within the body that if you are beginning to open yourself up to feel you can use that information as you continue to move towards what truly has value for you."

29:02- Desmond- "Thats the work for them (students) to figure out why are they are here and creating that sense of purpose."

29:30- Desmond "If your not defining yourself and defining what is important to you, then society is doing it for you... It's there, did you choose for it to be there."

29:51- Jesse was hearing two things come up about inner work: -1) Find your purpose, your genius, your inner gifts inherently there in your DNA. 2)To take time to feel. That feeling has that information. That wisdom.

32:20 Desmond- "There is no system in the world that will protect you from the chaos of life. What I mean by chaos is the unpredictability of life.... there is some level of unpredictability that we're all dealing with."

33:50 Desmond- "Part of what the inner work is about is being able to take in more information that is within us and understanding that enough to be able to teach whoever is in front of us. To make connections with whoever is in front of us and be the best guides in learning that we can be.

34:15 Desmond- "because the system was designed against children of color. Now the understanding that the task and part of the inner work is being actively for children of color."

34:37 Desmond "the false dichotomy of me being for something is not me being against the other thing."

34:55 Jesse quotes Darshanpreet from episode 1 The Art Work. "The school system does very successfully what is was meant to do: educate white boys."

35:08 Jesse "As educators we want to bring in the dynamic equilibrium, the balance, where everyone gets the resources to awaken their genius."

35:19-38:40 Practice for teachers: Slow down and pay attention to yourself during a class. What did I feel over the course of a class? What had an energetic charge? Whatever has the most charge- thats my teacher in the classroom. What is the narrative attached to that charge? What is the information your body is giving you? Through journaling, reflecting on it some understanding may arise. Then use that insight.

Start with 3 words that summed up the class today and do that consistently for a few weeks. Then add a bit more reflection over a time. The intention is about capturing your experience and know your capturing information about what your perceiving.

38:44 Jesse "One thing that grounds me is knowing that a students behavior is their best way to get a need met in the moment."

39:09- How is inner work sustained? Practices: Individual: writing, reflecting in depth, meditation, prayer, yoga, therapy, to quote Resmaa Menakem- get your reps in, and build your capacity, having routines, meal planning.

Community practices: group reflection/journaling, group meditation.

41:25 Colleague clip Mercedes- "I talk to my people, I have the huddle whenever we can do it. Because its not just about me talking about the things that have happened in a week or in a month but being able to listen. Something about being in that space and knowing its not just you or me fighting against this system and these oppressive forces. But we are holding down our individual spots and we are a collective. So I find power in that."

42:00 Desmond shares about the shift of having inner work being built into the work day for educators. "You don't sustain inner work by yourself."

42:00- Desmond explores the layers and connections of self actualization, self care, creating purpose and healing together.

47:16- What makes us want to do inner work? The growth that comes with it. Human connections that comes with inner work. Helps us get through difficult things. Improved ability to connect. A relationship with fear where your not controlled by fear or the narratives interwoven

50:45 Key Words and Phrases Freestyle edition: self care, feel, the truth hurts, information, vulnerability, dynamic, shame, triggers, shame, creativity and zeitgeist.

In this episode, we explore the work of racial Identity, and our discussion reveals Desmond's resistance to this episode. Jesse shares a nutshell version of his racial autobiography as a white man. We are working not to get cookies for doing the right thing. We are doing this work to be more fully human.

The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace.

We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

Https://worthworkpodcast.substack.com

02:55 Quote: “The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo, the job is to invent the status quo.” Seth Godin

03:21 Jesse mentions the transformation of taking ownership of his racial identity started with Courageous Conversations when he worked for Step Up.

03:35 Jesse mentions the term White Body Supremacy. Look into Resmaa Menakem’s work.

03:54 Inciting incident for this episode: 1619. Desmond- “Race is construct, that has been invented to- among many things- to create free labor and justify the means for creating that free labor. Which was stealing human bodies from Africa.”

05:03 Ruth King- from her book Mindful of Race. Two truths doctrine: We all live in ultimate reality and relative reality. In relative reality we are some body, habituated, ego driven, relating to life through concept. Ultimate reality there is neither race nor reason to suffer, we’re formless, empty of self and eternal.

06:18 Jesse mentions Dismantling Racism Training.

07:26 Desmond- “Racism thrives in the shame. Shame thrives in the shadows.”

09:10 Desmond- “The policies and practices and things that have to change, have to start getting us to the point where we are dealing with the aspects of our own selves and identity that could commit the same atrocities if we were in the same positions.”

10:40 Desmond- “That practice of telling ourselves stories to get rid of the tension and discomfort is what allows us to be bystanders to oppression.”

11:01 Desmond- “As we start understanding what it really means to be human… its these fluctuations, its these cycles. Its while I’m doing my part to change the system, there are times when I am complicit with the harm that the system does. As I do the work to give myself grace in those moments I can come back to doing this work.”

12:02 Desmond- “I have many maps of who I am. But the terrain of who I am, I’m always exploring.”

12:21 Jesse asks “How does your understanding of racial identity….impact you as an educators and what you bring into the classroom?”

13:43 Desmond quotes KRS-One about identity being like putting on a jacket.

14:52 Jesse guides a 2 B.A.R.S. meditation. Breathe. Align. Relax. Shine. To absorb whatever is coming up for you.

17:00 Colleague clip: “Back home (in California) people knew that I was not only Indian, but that I was Punjabi, because there is such a huge community of us. People could tell the state I was from. The religion I was. There was enough diversity to have knowledge around that. Moving to Portland was the first time I learned that I identify as a person of color. I did not know that growing up. I really had no idea. Moving here was a huge culture shock.”

19:26 Referencing Resmaa Menakem again and his concept of clean pain vs. dirty pain. If you haven’t- please go buy My Grandmothers Hands and read it, re read it and reference it often.

21:07 Jesse’s nutshell version of his racial autobiography as white man.

23:19 Desmond- “The ability to hear stories that challenge your view of the world and view of identity and still maintain a connection to the people who share those stories. Thats the leveling up that we need to continue to do.”

23:38 Jesse references J Smooth’s analogy of doing the work around racial awareness is like brushing your teeth and not like getting your tonsils removed. “The belief that you must be perfect in order to be good, is an obstacle to being as good as you can be.” Jay Smooth

26:03 Desmond- “I don’t want to internalize any more than I already have, the division of racism. So when I say I’m a Black man, I say it not because Black is actually a thing. I say it because as long as I know folks that look like me and have had this shared experience identify this way across the globe- thats what I’m down with. I’m not doing it because I want race to be real.”

28:03 Colleague clip- “I got lumped in with other groups that I never really associated with. Growing up most of the people I went to school with were Mexican American. Even then there was enough Indians to know she’s Indian. But here I’ve gotten everything from Indigenous to African- Ethiopian to are you Latinx. People just don’t know and so I got thrown in with that group and I just didn’t know that now I’m somehow a representative of all these other groups that I know nothing about. It was a huge shock.”

28:47 Desmond “ You may personally identify as one way racially, but people around you will say, ‘Ah, no you look like this.’ And I think what really matters is how your treated. So if you present a certain way, then the world is treating you some way based on how you racially present not how you personally identify. That creates tensions within you. But I think for understanding race in the culture its about understanding how the perception of your race as it contrasts and aligns with your own defintion of race.”

29:34 Desmond- “I’m Black because it connects me to my people. I’m not Black because somebody tells me I’m Black.”

30:21 Desmond- “Me knowing the history of racism I don’t want to cling to the race based labels because race is not a thing. But I will identify how I want to identify to find connections with other people. If we’re gonna use these terms thats fine but lets make sure we’re doing it for that purpose of connecting not reinforcing division like race’s original intent.”

31:09 Jesse- As educators we gather in affinity groups… And recently I was invited into this reframe of white accountability groups instead of affinity groups because its about being accountable to white body supremacy and shifting culture.

31:39 Jesse quotes two of colleagues- Darshanpreet “Our education system is designed to educate white boys so its doing what its intended to do.” Gadbow- “The system is set up for white people to feel comfortable.”

32:06 Jesse- “…We have to get comfortable having and normalizing these conversations.” (speaking of white educators)

32:47 Jesse- “Here is the invitation of Worth Work, of inner work; build capacity to follow those triggers, that charge, the uncomfortable- so we can to start to heal.”

32:57 Colleague clip- “For like two years I’d say I just kind of reeled by my lack of understanding. I was at a very diverse middle school and kids of color would come up and talk to me like we had shared knowledge about something. Of course I’m of color but my experience growing up in Central California was no where near as traumatic as theirs here.”

33:31 Desmond “Will the culture change enough to allow us to say- ‘I’m sorry’ ‘okay’ accept whats communicated and move forward.”

33:52- Desmond shares an example of a community building project: learning a students name properly then creating a classroom culture where the burden isn’t on the student to re explain how to say their name every time.

35:30 Desmond- Have those continuous community building practices throughout the year, where you’re providing opportunity for stories to be shared, heard and celebrated. So that kids can get to know the fullness of each others humanity.

36:10- Jesse- “How can normalize transformative conversations about race, acknowledge the charge that comes with that, notice the shame and continue to invite these conversation in a way that invites us to change?”

37:00 Jesse- “I can’t be afraid to make a mistake and take ownership of it. Thats a part of the process.”

37:07 Jesse “As a Worth Work collective I think thats an invitation we can offer- we need young, old, everyone- come together normalizing conversations that are hard to have in a way that brings depth of transformation, creativity and growth.”

37:54 Desmond talking about the process of sharing the process of having a difficult conversation after he said something wrong…

39:58 Desmond- By confronting this harm openly and honestly and working through it, there is a chance for a stronger relationship.

41:15 Jesse mentions a poem he wrote- Accolades Addict. We’re not doing this work to get a cookie. We’re doing this work to be more fully human.

42:00 Desmond- you do this work because its allows you to be aligned and to practice what you value.

42:15 Key Words and phrases freestyle: systematic, 1619, 400 year charge, ultimate reality, relative reality, courage to heal, social construct

In this episode, we explore a dynamic definition of equity, and our discussion springboards from a collage of quotes from our colleagues. Join us as we build off our first episode about the artform of teaching and use an artful lens to get into the nitty-gritty of racial equity. The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace. We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

01:57-Clip from a colleague: Elias-“I think equity looks like adults out of the way at its best…student leaders making decisions around what their school can be for them…equity work at its core, when it’s really working, it’s responsive to what students are, and students are having that self determination around what direction they want things to go.”

03:20 link to artform of teaching episode

03:46- Jesse references knowledge of self is the 5th element of Hip Hop- self actualization.

04:35- Desmond: “The system incentivizes you to not be engaged, to try and figure out what’s the least amount of work I can do to get the top result versus how do I learn, how do I better myself and gain skills and confidence.”

05:48 Jesse - “One of our challenges as educators is to model bringing our genius in the classroom.”

06:16 Clip from a colleague- Daniel: “We make adjustments to our approach and curriculum …. Striving for equality…When it’s working well students are feeling empowered and energized and getting what they need.”

07:50- link to Ungrading episode coming soon

07:55 what is racial equity?

08:20- Jesse- “for equity to happen we need to approach teaching from a vantage point of the knowledge of white supremacy is happening and we’re steeped in it.”

08:30 Jesse and Des- explore the metaphor- guitar string needs tension to create beautiful music. We are invited to lean into the tension of creating equitable systems.

09:23 Invite teachers and students to understand systems. Desmond “we need to start recognizing and seeing as much of the system as we can.” Improving relationships between the parts of the system.

10:00- Exploring how we isolate ourselves as teachers. Our culture's emphasis on independence.

12:50- how can we serve the whole?

13:20- “doing what’s best for you and just thinking about the next class.” What percentage of the time are you in this mindset?

14:25- Jesse- self-actualizing isn’t in our justice b description but is the bedrock of teaching. link to how to self actualize

14:55 Des’s idea- teach who you are ————>teach who you want to be

16:35- Two BARS pause- guided meditation

18:43- Clip from a colleague: Ken- about equity being radical acceptance

20:20- Jesse- each of us has an invitation and part to play in healing the inequities

20:45 Des- radical acceptance- accepting each other at the core of who we are.

21:46- Desmond- radical acceptance is maintaining the human-to-human relationship. active listening

22:49 Jesse- part of the risk is to slow down and really listen- see ourselves, see our students, see our colleagues.

25:50- Desmond- “if you're used to going a 100mph and someone is asking you to stop. That’s some tension coming to that stop.”

26- Jesse- taking two BARS to take a pause to connect with the breath. Link to dynamic mindfulness training out of Oakland.

29:24- Desmond "...It (emotional intelligence) doesn’t help us navigate the old paradigm. Paradigms are shifting- we are moving from productivity at all costs to a balance. Design for productivity vs Design for resilience."

31:25-Desmond- the radical acceptance and listening needs to be grounded in the new paradigm of a design for resilience. “If the system and the paradigm is still about okay, how we can be better to fix our problem quickly- then it doesn’t change. If it's about- okay come talk and share your experience so we can all collectively adjust to this paradigm, adjust our views and get a better understanding that we are all valuing and wanting the same core things as far as being able to live and enjoy life. But yet the way that we’ve designed the systems society makes that difficult for some people and easier for others.”

32:25-Jesse- Part of the New Paradigm is prioritizing slowing down, community connection, and emotional intelligence.

32:40- Desmond- “As things start to fall and change, and rearrange. I think racial inequities and all kinds of inequities just keep going on because we’ve set it up to where that folks with the means, the resources, the power, and the status then move up the societal hierarchy. They make decisions that aren’t actually serving the masses that create the hierarchy. It serves their position so they can maintain and hoard. All the efforts desist because we want to be like them.”

33:17- Clip from a colleague: Sam Thompson- “For me equity is about being impartial, giving people an opportunity to have a fair shake. A lot of times we focus on equality when what we really need is equity. Equity is being fair. That's what we want the most as people is fairness... I run a basketball camp in the summer. If I wanted to practice equality I would give everyone size 13 shoes. Everybody gets the exact same thing. But being equitable I ask all the players- what size shoe do you wear so you can get exactly what you need. That's what equity is, meeting people where they’re at, being fair, and giving people exactly what they need to be able to succeed.”

34:30 Desmond- “ Fairness in this context is seeing what people need... To call it out as we should- the system is designed to meet the needs of white male bodies. So it's already asking them what they need and want. It's not asking what Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks, LBGTQ+, it's not asking what they want or need. Then these groups force a conversation, cause we need stuff like any other human... How do we then create the ability within those who have the resources to have the capacity... to be able to truly hear it and connect.

36:20- Jesse- “Another analogy is that you need the correct medicine for your symptom. You don’t need Tylenol for everything. What do you need for your genius to awaken? Not everyone needs the same assignment....”

37:00 min- Jesse- “All our work is to dismantle the white body supremacy so everyone is getting their needs met.” Jesse’s following words about white folks using the victim card here are influenced by the quote and article - “If you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

37:50- Jesse- “I have a part to play in this work- I can’t lean on my friends and colleagues of color to do the work and tell me what's up and give me that stamp of approval that I’m one of the good ones. I have my work to do and my part to play...”

38:13- Jesse- “I need to create a platform so all voices can get heard... and integrated... We’re forming a different system...Trying to be a white man isn’t what everyone’s goal is. We are taking down this whole hierarchy ideally. And that comes back to not just teaching who you are but teaching who you want to be. Teaching as a way of that I’m one of many voices in this room that has skills, stories, and knowledge to share.”

38:55- Desmond- “Flipping it to- its work to do, and hence the name of the podcast- Worth Work. This work restores the perception of worth within yourself. I say perception because that's how we determine if we’re a good person or not... When perceptions keep us in shame spirals that's where the problem occurs.”

39:46 Desmond- “To me racism at its core is a shame system. If I can get people who don’t look like me, darker-skinned people, to inherently hate themselves. And look up to what I want and what I have then I can have control and power over them. That is the foundation of the country.”

40:45- Desmond- “Being uncomfortable when you're used to having a life of comfort- is scary. In my Grandmother's Hands, there is this idea of White Fragility. Link to my Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menekem Link to White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Podcast with both Resmaa and Robin- Onbeing

43- Desmond- Exploring the depth of privilege, resilience, and race. “Needs are dynamic.”

44:45- Desmond- “We are all conditioned to learn in a certain way. I call it 'pretend learning.' If you not engaging fully in the content and you’re getting an A... if you're not making mistakes if you're not pushing yourself to that place where you’re not understanding it, and pushing yourself. Then all you’re doing is playing school, and not actually challenging yourself to grow. That what the whole system does.”

Jesse- “That's what we need to do as Educators is have a culture of growth as well. Not just I’ve taught this curriculum for this many years, take a test and show me you have the knowledge too.

47:37- Desmond's definition of equity is meeting students' needs, not their wants. Example- of deepening reasoning. “What do you want to do with your success?”

48:16- Jesse references RZA’s Tao of Wu book. Pillar of Wisdom- The Call. Part of educating is unlearning, and understanding why we were taught what we were taught in the first place.

49:20- Desmond- “You get that 4.0, and prove to yourself that I’m the type of person that values my education. Now what?... What do I want to do next?”

49:55- Jesse- “The question of what is equity? takes us back to the layers of what it means to be human. Those questions put us on this quest of what matters in life... How do I live from my heart?... and stay aligned with it.”

50:50- Desmond- “The problem with words is that they don’t keep going. Have a dynamic definition of equity means that you evolve... It's good to remind ourselves that at one point equity was equal, now it's realizing the needs of each of us and taking the time necessary to figure that out..... and our students get better at that... and thinking long-term... Equity is understanding that we all have worth and working for that. ”

52:15- Keywords and phrases Freestyle edition- Keywords: equity, beyond compliance education, white body supremacy, tension for music, get in your bag, teach who you want to be.”

Summary: Welcome to our first Worth Work podcast! This episode we focus on seeing the vocation of teaching as an art form. Using this podcast as a canvas we paint with quotes, clips from empathy interviews of colleagues, a guided meditation, storytelling, insights, and end with a freestyle rap using the key words and phrases of this episode. Our hope is to bring infectious energy to help you energize your approach to teaching. Enjoy! 

0:00- Intro song and summary

01:35: "To practice any art no matter how well or how badly is a way to make your soul grow; for heavens sake- so do it." Kurt Vonnegut

02:40- Darshanpreet quote- about changing the way we do things- ""instead of changing the way we do things, telling the kids again and again- why can't you meet these standards? Then of course it goes into who did set the standards in the first place? How do we scaffold them appropriately if we do think they are important so that there is multiple points of entry? I see how things that are already inequitable from the start, where people are starting at different level, then we put them in a school system that was never built for everybody and then the school system does very successfully what it was meant to do: educate white boys."

04:08- Des exploring the tension of meeting standards

05:29- Jesse explores that tension by sharing his journey through school as white man.

06:23 Jesse “I could check the boxes, I could get the As and Bs. Bu there was this whole other part missing. That’s me sharing my story, that’s me expressing myself, that’s me finding my unique genius in the world.”

07:33- Slide of genius awakening pedagogy vs traditional school

09:40- Des sharing his unique journey through school as a black man. Seeking to over achieve…

12:25 Des “we turn away from the work of equity, because of not wanting to be shamed by it. Not understanding that we are all dealing with some degree of ‘not good enough’ and having some type of reaction to that because of an intentionally created hierarchy based on skin color.

13:35 Jesse asking Des- “how much of your school experiences do you carry with you as a teacher?”

14:38- Des as a junior was invited by his mom to read The Four agreements. The four agreements are: -always do your best -don’t take things personal -be impeccable with your word -don’t make assumptions

17:38- 2 BARS pause

20:12 Lila Watson wiki page.

Check Brother Ali’s episode of Rhymes and Reasons podcast where he breaks down how our liberations are bound up with each other.

24:30- Des quote along the lines of project based learning- “who says you have to wait till your out of high school to make a contribution?”

25:55- Desmond’s acronym- G.O.D- genius over doubt. Which is about liberating folks from shame.

27:13 Jon Acuff- book called Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking

27:55 Desmond- “a good chunk of what this podcast is about is the art of healing from a collective shame that we’ve all been conditioned to because it served those in power at the time.”

28:28 Link the assignment of empty your cup. Shame keeps us from being vulnerable and mutual liberation. This is an assignment designed to share story. Teacher demonstrating- students having space to write and empty their cup by processing their life experience.

29:40 Des “Being human is inherently vulnerable.” Jesse - “facts. And we can pretend it’s not for a whole 90 min block period…and we get caught on n just going through the motions.

30:13- Jesse “as educators, as adults in the space, we set that tone…

31:10 - @mosiaceye Instagram page clip about compassionate self care.

32:15- our artform starts with- ‘we teach who we are.’ To be with the depths of ourselves- our breath, aware of our humanity, our own suffering, our own inherent vulnerability as humans. We start there and then we can see the humanity of the young people we share space with.

33:15- Des- ‘when your sitting with the pain of the moment, let’s not get it twisted it is pain…. It’s not as soft as the word compassion tends to imply…. Pain is an inherent part of being alive. We can’t escape it, but the conditioning of society would have you believe that you can.

34:49- Victor Frankls work- the tragic triad- we can’t escape pain, guilt and death.

36:39- Des references Resmaa Menakem’s work- My Grandmothers Hands. And the idea of clean pain vs dirty pain. Clean pain moves through our body without us projecting it on someone else.

37:22 Desmond- there are ways to communicate what we actually feel. This piece is hard for people in authority to do if they are not in the practice of doing this work.

38:12 Desmond- thats admitting as teachers we don’t have the answers… Jesse - “but my liberation is bound up with yours so let’s do this together."

39:20- Jesse - “ part of our human experience is to take our pain and use the energy to architect our life- make something beautiful."

39:38- Freestyling with key words and phrases: artform, multiple points of entry, genius, school journey, liberation, 4 agreements, perfectionism, joy and self care.